Ambulant toy with erratic steering means



July 17, 1951 J, PEREZ 2,560,739

AMBULANT TOY WITH ERRATIC STEERING MEANS Filed Feb. 2, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l Oscar J. Perez INVENTOR.

July 17, 1951 o. J. PEREZ AMBULANT TOY WITH ERRATIC STEERING MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 2, 1948 Oscar J. Perez III A viIlliillll!iI!Ill!II!!!ilfllllflfillllfllll!ffIlIIIlllllll/I'lIIll'lllfll I u INVENTOR.

Q BY M July 17, 1951 o. J. PEREZ v AMBULANT 'roy WITH ERRATIC STEERING MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 2, 1948 Oscar J. Perez INVENTOR.

Patented July 17, 1951 UNITED STATES arm OFFICE AMBULANT TOYWITH ERR-ATIC' STEERING MEANS Oscar J. Prez, Tampa, Fla. Application February 2,1948, SerialNo. 5,877

1 Claim. 1 This invention relates generally to toys and more particularly to an ambulant toy comprising ach'assis-having steering and driving Wheels, a motor'and power transmission means to :drive the driving-wheel alternately forwardly and rear- Wardly and steering means which is also operated by the said motor.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a toy which will move along an irregular line or path which isapparentlyhaphazard to the casual observer but" which may be determined by the operator :of the device.

Another object of this invention is to provide an ambulant toy in which the steering mechanism and the forward and rearward-drive mech'anism operate independently of each other, and in'which a-set of replaceable cams are provided 'so that different paths will be followed by the toy when different cams are mounted therein.

Still another object, of specific character, is to a provide improved steering and "reversing means ina toy'of this character,

.And a last object to be mentioned specifically is to provide a device of this character in which all the elements thereof are relatively inexpensive-and practicable to manufacture, the toy being safe as well as highly interesting to operate, readily susceptible of various typesof-ornamentation, and generally adapted for-durable service.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claim, and" illustrated in'theac o p y g drawings which form :a material part of this application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a view of this :toy, largely in top plan, the outer decorative casing being removed and the motor assembly and housing therefor being shown in horizontal section as though taken on a plane immediately beneath the top plate of said housing;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the assembled toy, the view being taken substantially on the line 22 of Figure l, the casing for the toy being generally indicated in dash line;

Figure 3 is a three dimensional enlarged view of the sleeve mounted for rotation with the rear axle and carrying gear wheels, together with a lever used to shift the sleeve for selective forward and reverse driving of the toy;

Figure 4 is a three dimensional view of the drive shaft and associated parts;

Figure 5 is a lower plan view of the assembled bolted'or riveted :as at 26130 an toy, the outside casing of the toy being removed as in Figure 1;

Figures 6, 7, and Bare lower plan views of cams used in association with the steering mechanism of the toy and which are selectively mounted one at a time in the toy, that is, these cams are provided in a set of interchangeable units having different operative cam faces;

Figure 9 is a plan view of a simple cam used in connection with the shifting of the gears illustrated in Figure'B and Figure 10 is a transverse vertical sectional view, taken on the line Iii-10 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elements and portion throughout the specification and throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, this invention comprehends provision of a chassis having :a flat plate frame l0 with a front transverse member [2 bolted or riveted thereto as at I4, the base frame being reduced in width at the front end and generally rectangular, bearings It for theaxle l8 of the rear wheels 20, and a housing '22 with :an outturned attachment flange 23 intermediate portion of the plate frame L0.

The front wheels 28 are carried on stub axles I '30 having steering arms 32 linked by a tie rod 34,

of a key; not shown, applied to the end 5!] of the shaft, all in a well known manner which has become substantially conventional in toys of this character. The coil spring 48 is terminally secured as indicated at 52 to the housing 22 and the plate frame is apertured to receive a, bearing 54 having an upstanding portion adapted to support the gear 44, a stepped portion fitted into the plate frame I!) and a dependingportion 56, and in the embodiment illustrated in the drawing, this bearing 54 also partakes of the nature of a journal inasmuch as the bearing 54 rotates with the shaft 42, the depending portion 56 being preferably hexagonal in cross section and adapted to receive thereon the rotary cam 58, which will now be described. This cam is formed with a hexagonal recess and will be provided in a set in which the individual cams as illustrated in Figures 5, 6, '7 and 8 are similar except as to the configuration of the operation-a1 face thereof, that is, the configuration of the groove 62. Each of these individual cams is provided with a depending neck portion, the outer edge of which is indicated at '64 in Figures 5 to 8, and which is further illustrated at 66 in Figure 2. Each cam is also provided with a shoulder 68, and a second cam I0 fits on this neck portion 66 abutting the shoulder '68.

A steering lever I2 and a second lever 14 are pivotally mounted as indicated at I6 and I8 in spaced relation to and on the underside of the plate frame I0. The forward end of the steering lever I2 is pivoted as at 80 to the tie rod 34, the pivot connection including an elongated slotted plate 82 on the extreme forward end of the lever I2, while the rear end of the same lever has a cam follower operatively associated with the groove 62 in the cam 58.

The lever "I i does not have a cam follower of roller type and the extending portion 84 of the cam ID forces this lever in one direction against the action of a biasing spring 86 connected to a rear portion of the lever 14 and to the plate frame In as indicated at 88, while the extreme rear end of this lever M is arranged in frictional engagement with and between the spaced parallel annular flanges 90 on a sleeve 92 as best illustrated in Figure 3. The central portion of the axle I8 is preferably square in cross section and the sleeve 92 is also a hollow square in cross section so that this sleeve is mounted for rotation with the axle and slidable longitudinally thereon. The sleeve 92 carries a pair of spaced beveled gears 94 selectively engageable with the drive gear 96. The drive gear 96 is carried on the lower end of the drive shaft 9 8 which is suitably journalled in the plate frame If! and the top wall of the housing 22 and driven indirectly by the coil spring 40 through a set of reduction gears of any suitable character and indicated at I00, I02 and I04. While it is not thought necessary to elaborate on the reduction gear assembly, it should be noted that other reduction gears I06, I08, III! and H2 and a suitable complement of shafting are used to connect a fly wheel H4 in this assembly to make the operation of the toy more uniform.

The second lever 14 is offset as at IIB so that the rear end portion II8 of the lever is substantially normal to the axle I8. The hexagonal aperture I20 in the second cam I0 is such as to allow this second cam to fit snugly over the neck portion 66 of the first cam 58 and both these cams are held in position by a transversely disposed strap member I22 having a hinge connection I24 with the plate frame In which will be provided with 9. depending member to space the hinge I24 downwardly beneath the level of the plate frame ID as indicated by the positioning of the hinge connection I24 in Figure 2, the drawings not showing this depending member except as indicated by the line I26 in Figure 5, while the other end of this member I22 is provided with any suitable latching means I28 whereby the member may be held secured to the plate frame I0 and securing the said cams in operative position.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the above recitation of the objects sought to be achieved by this invention. Minor varia tions from the embodiment disclosed may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, the limits of which scope should be determined according to the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

An ambulant toy comprising a, chassis having steering and driving wheels, cam means operatively secured on the chassis and a motor to drive the cam means, a lever having a cam follower operatively connected with said cam means and the steering wheels, and power transmission means connecting said motor with said driving wheels, said motor having a drive gear, said driving wheels having an axle rotatably mounted on the chassis and fixed against movement transversely of the chassis, a sleeve mounted for rotation with the axle and slidable longitudinally thereof, spaced gear wheels carried on said sleeve and selectively engageable with said drive gear, whereby said driving wheels may be rotated in two directions, and a second lever with a, cam follower operatively connected with said cam means and with said sleeve, said cam means comprising separably interfitted sections each associated with one of said levers, said motor to drive the cam means including a, vertical shaft extending to the underside of said chassis, said sections of the cam means being removably mounted on said shaft, and a strap member hinged to the underside of the chassis and releasabl secureable in position to hold said sections operably mounted on the shaft.

OSCAR J. PEREZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

